Which Way Out?

Ava was sleeping, she had several bruises on her arms, and a few on her face. Her dress was torn at the neck.

"God!" Maddie gasped as she stood staring at her friend. "Look what they did," tears pooled in her eyes. She turned to look at the police officer who was still standing in the room. "She doesn't deserve this, she....." Maddie paused as she tried to pull herself together.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your friend, we will make sure to catch the criminals who did this to her." The police officer said.

"Look at what....." Maddie pointed at Ava's face. "Why did they have to do this to her?"

"The neighborhood is a dangerous one, crimes are reported there on a daily, may I ask what your friend was doing there?" The police officer asked Maddie who was now sniffling.

"She..... She went there to pay back one of the loan sharks the money her mother owed," Maddie said.

The police officer let out a breath, "I have to leave now, the doctor said they have to keep her under observation for a couple of hours. I will come back later when she is awake, so I can take her statement."

"Thank you, officer," Maddie said.

"You are welcome. Here is her phone, we found it in her pocket," the officer handed Ava's phone to Maddie before leaving the room.

Maddie stood staring at her friend, wondering what would become of her if was yet to pay Robinson back his money before she got attacked. She looked at Ava's phone which was in her hand, and she wondered how come the thieves didn't steal it from her.

Maddie's phone rang and she left the room to answer it. Brad, their boss was the one calling her.

"Maddie, have you gotten to her?" Brad asked her.

"Yeah, I have seen her."

"How is she?" Brad asked in a worried voice. Though Brad was their boss, he most times treated Maddie and Ava like his sisters. He knew they were struggling to survive, and he always helped them out in any little way he could.

"She sustained a few injuries, I'm yet to talk to the doctor to know how she is truly doing."

"All right, you let me know once you've been able to talk to the doctor okay?"

"I will. Thanks, Brad."

"Don't worry Maddie, Ava is going to be okay."

After Maddie ended the call, she decided to call her boyfriend, she was searching for his number on her phone when she bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry," Maddie said, as she looked up at the guy.

"It's okay, just watch where you are going," the guy said with a smile.

Maddie found herself smiling as well, for his smile was contagious.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"It's fine. Are you okay?" The guy asked, seeing that she was sniffling.

"Yeah, I'm good," Maddie nodded.

"You don't look too good, a relative of yours is in this hospital?"

"A friend. My best friend. She got attacked by some robbers," Maddie said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the guy said in a kind voice. "What did the doc...." The guy paused with what he was saying when his phone started ringing. He excused himself to go take the call. Maddie called her boyfriend and told him what was going on. When she was done with her conversation, the guy was still talking on the phone, Maddie went to the doctor's office to ask about Ava's condition. The doctor said the same thing that the police officer had told Maddie, Ava didn't suffer any internal injuries but they were going to observe her for a few hours before she can be discharged.

"Mad....." Ava called out in a tearful tone when she saw Maddie walk into the room.

"Ava," Maddie went to her side, "how are you feeling?" She asked.

"The money," Ava said, "They took the money," she started crying.

"All of it?" Maddie asked her.

"Everything, they took everything Maddie," Ava was crying so hard her body was shaking.

"It's okay, we will figure out a way," Maddie came and sat beside Ava, hugging her.

"How Maddie? If I don't pay Robinson back his money, he....."

"Shh....., Just calm down okay? We will figure a way out of this. But first, you need to get better," Maddie spoke with so much confidence, Ava almost believed her for a second. But she knew her friend was only saying those words to encourage her. There was no way she was going to be able to raise that amount of money to pay Robinson back.

"Calm down okay?" Maddie said to her with a smile.

Ava slowly nodded. For a moment, she wished those men had killed her because she was better off dead than being left alive to face Robinson and his men. What was she going to do? How was she going to raise that amount of money again?

"We are going to be fine," Maddie kept assuring Ava, but she didn't believe a word.

"I need to get discharged, where are the doctors?" Ava asked.

"They said you would have to stay here for a couple of hours more before you will be discharged," Maddie said.

"I can't stay here any longer, the longer I stay, the more bills I would have to pay. And we both know I don't have any health insurance," Ava said.

Maddie blew out a frustrated breath, Ava was right. The hospital did look fancy, so that meant their bill was going to be high.

"Relax, we will figure out a way," Maddie said. She sounded confident, even when she didn't know how they were going to get out of the situation.

****

"Thank you so much for stopping by Mr. Taylor," the chief medical director of the hospital said to Mason. Mason's family was a huge donor at the hospital, and from time to time they came by to see how things were being run at the hospital.

"Thank you for the warm reception, Dr. Jorge. Keep up with the good work," Mason said.

"Your family's donation is what helps us to do all the work we do here. Thank you so much," the doctor said.

"We do the little that we can. I will leave you to do your work. Talk to you some other time doctor," Mason said to the doctor.

"Have a nice day Mr. Mason."

As Mason was about to leave, he said, "one more thing doctor Jorge."

"Yes?"

"A few minutes ago, I saw a young lady, she said her friend was brought in here. She said something about her friend being robbed. Do you by chance know who I'm talking about?"

"I think I do. We only have one case of someone who was robbed, and it's a young lady."

"Okay, I think we are talking about the same person. Could you put their treatment on my tab? Don't charge them for anything okay?"

"All right Mr. Taylor. Thank you for your help."

Mason gave the doctor a curt nod before turning to leave the hospital.